The Conquering Sword of Conan

In a meteoric career that covered only a dozen years, Robert E. Howard defined the sword and sorcery genre. In doing so, he brought to life the archetypal adventurer known to millions around the world as Conan the barbarian. This collection features Howard at his finest and Conan at his most savage.

The Bloody Crown of Conan

In his hugely influential and tempestuous career, Robert E. Howard created the genre that came to be known as sword and sorcery - and brought to life one of fantasy's boldest and most enduring figures: Conan the Cimmerian, reaver, slayer, barbarian, king. This volume gathers together three of Howard's longest and most famous Conan stories.

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane

With Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard created more than the greatest action hero of the twentieth century---he also launched a genre that came to be known as sword and sorcery. But Conan was not the first archetypal adventurer to spring from Howard's fertile imagination.

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard, renowned creator of Conan the Barbarian, was also a master at conjuring tales of hair-raising horror. In a career spanning only 12 years, Howard wrote more than 100 stories, with his most celebrated work appearing in Weird Tales, the preeminent pulp magazine of the era.

Kull: Exile of Atlantis

In a meteoric career that spanned a mere 12 years, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword and sorcery. From his fertile imagination sprang some of fiction's most enduring heroes. Yet while Conan the Cimmerian is indisputably Howard's greatest creation, it was in his earlier sequence of tales featuring Kull, a fearless warrior with the brooding intellect of a philosopher, that Howard began to develop the distinctive themes and the richly evocative blend of history and mythology .

Swords and Deviltry: The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.

Necronomicon

Originally written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s, H. P. Lovecraft's astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction, and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when first published. This tome brings together all of Lovecraft's harrowing stories, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were when first released.

Bran Mak Morn: The Last King

From Robert E. Howard's fertile imagination sprang some of fiction's greatest heroes, including Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, and Solomon Kane. But of all Howard's characters, none embodied his creator's brooding temperament more than Bran Mak Morn, the last king of a doomed race.

The End of the Story: Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1

Published in chronological order, with extensive story and bibliographic notes, this series not only provides access to stories that have been out of print for years, but gives them a historical and social context. Series editors Scott Conners and Ronald S. Hilger excavated the still-existing manuscripts, letters and various published versions of the stories, creating a definitive "preferred text" for Smith's entire body of work.

Paul W. Westermeyer says:"I knew I would like this book, but I was surprised"

Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons

The life story of Gary Gygax, godfather of all fantasy adventure games, has been told only in bits and pieces. Michael Witwer has written a dynamic, dramatized biography of Gygax from his childhood in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to his untimely death in 2008. Gygax's magnum opus, Dungeons & Dragons, would explode in popularity throughout the 1970s and '80s and irreversibly alter the world of gaming. D&D is the best-known, best-selling role-playing game of all time, and it boasts an elite class of alumni.

El Borak and Other Desert Adventures

Robert E. Howard is famous for creating such immortal heroes as Conan the Cimmerian, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn. Less well-known but equally extraordinary are his non-fantasy adventure stories set in the Middle East and featuring such two-fisted heroes as Francis Xavier Gordon, known as "El Borak", Kirby O'Donnell, and Steve Clarney. This trio of hard-fighting Americans, civilized men with more than a touch of the primordial in their veins, marked a new direction for Howard's writing.

Sly Flourish's The Lazy Dungeon Master

You love Dungeons and Dragons. As an experienced dungeon master, you've run dozens, if not hundreds of games. You put a lot of work into making your games great. What if there's another way to look at how you prepare your game? What if it turned out you could spend less time and less energy and have a better game as a result? It's time to unleash the Lazy Dungeon Master.

A Princess of Mars

A Princess of Mars was the first book by Edgar Rice Burroughs to feature the character John Carter. It led to an 11-book series featuring his adventures and became the basis for the 2012 movie. Carter is a war-weary former military captain during the Civil War who is inexplicably transported to Mars. He quickly (and reluctantly) becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions among the inhabitants of the planet.

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners

With New Orleans out of control, Chad Oliver Gardenier, one of Monster Hunter International's premier hunters, has been dispatched from Seattle to reinforce the beleaguered members of MHI'S Hoodoo Squad in their fight against the darkness.

H.P. Lovecraft, The Complete Omnibus, Volume II: 1927-1935

This is volume two of a two-volume omnibus set comprising the complete fictional works of Howard Phillips Lovcecraft. Every story written for publication under his own name is included in this set, from 1927 through 1935. (Poems, ghostwritten material, and stories written in collaboration with other writers are not included.)

The Dying Earth

The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home.

Hero: Legend of Drizzt: Homecoming, Book III

Something akin to peace has come to the Underdark. The demon hordes have receded, and now the matron mothers argue over the fate of Drizzt Do'Urden. Even so, it becomes clear to one matriarch after another that while the renegade drow may come and go, Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders, will crawl forever on. And so Drizzt is free to return to his home on the surface once again. Scores are settled as lives are cut short, yet other lives move on. For the lone drow, there is only a single final quest: a search for peace, for family, for home.

H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Omnibus Collection, Volume I: 1917-1926

This is volume one of a two-volume omnibus set comprising the complete fictional works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Every story written for publication under his own name is included in this set, from 1917 through 1935. (Poems, ghost-written material, and stories written in collaboration with other writers are not included.) Highlights of this volume include "Dagon", "The Rats in the Walls", The Shunned House, "The Horror at Red Hook", "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Strange High House in the Mist", and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.

Lovecraft's Monsters

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.

Star Wars: Ahsoka

Fans have long wondered what happened to Ahsoka after she left the Jedi Order near the end of the Clone Wars and before she reappeared as the mysterious Rebel operative Fulcrum in Rebels. Finally her story will begin to be told. Following her experiences with the Jedi and the devastation of Order 66, Ahsoka is unsure she can be part of a larger whole ever again. But her desire to fight the evils of the Empire and protect those who need it will lead her right to Bail Organa - and the Rebel Alliance.

Eaters of the Dead

The year is A.D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs - the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness...their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth.

People of the Dark: The Weird Works of R. E. Howard, Volume 2

The second volume of The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard. Meticulously restored to their original magazine texts from the pulp magazine Weird Tales, this volume contains the short stories "The Black Stone", "Children of the Night", "The Dark Man", "The Footfalls Within", "Gods of Gal-Sagoth", "Horror from the Mound", "Kings of the Night", "The Last Day", "People of the Dark", "The Song of the Mad Minstrel" and "The Thing on the Roof".

Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It

In Of Dice and Men, David Ewalt recounts the development of Dungeons & Dragons from the game’s roots on the battlefields of ancient Europe, through the hysteria that linked it to satanic rituals and teen suicides, to its apotheosis as father of the modern video-game industry. As he chronicles the surprising history of the game’s origins (a history largely unknown even to hardcore players) and examines D&D’s profound impact, Ewalt weaves laser-sharp subculture analysis with his own present-day gaming experiences.

Catalyst (Star Wars): A Rogue One Novel

The must-have prequel novel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - the upcoming film, set before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, that reveals the untold story of the rebel effort to steal the plans to the Death Star!

Publisher's Summary

Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities...there was an age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.... Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand...to tread the jeweled thrones of the earth under his sandalled feet.

In a meteoric career that spanned a mere 12 years before his tragic suicide, Robert E. Howard single-handedly invented the genre that came to be called sword-and-sorcery. Collected in this volume are Howard's first 13 Conan stories in their original versions and in the order Howard wrote them. Included are classics of dark fantasy like "The Tower of the Elephant" and swashbuckling adventure like "Queen of the Black Coast."

Here are timeless tales featuring Conan the raw and dangerous youth, Conan the daring thief, Conan the swashbuckling pirate, and Conan the commander of armies. Here, too, is an unparalleled glimpse into the mind of a genius whose bold storytelling style has been imitated by many yet equaled by none.

Having long known Conan only in generalities and film, I picked this up largely to fill in an unfortunate blank space in my pulp sci-fi/fantasy education: And it most certainly did not disappoint. Much more than just Superman with a sword, Conan impressed me as much more than just the dim barbarian of parodies and spin-offs and proves himself as the king of fantasy heroes. Howard too possesses a talent for action scenes that even nearly 100 years has not diminished, and I found his frequent introductory poems an especial surprise. While undoubtedly a product of its times, there's a visceral adventurousness and hero envy in these stories that any stick-swinging tomboy can appreciate, and if any elements feel cliche, it's only because the freshness they enjoy here in their original incarnations has been aped so many time since.

The Conquering Sword of Conan and other Howard stories are totally on my wishlist after this, and here's hoping some of Howard's horror stories make the site soon!

As a lifelong admirer of fellow Texan Robert E. Howard's work, I am so pleased to see the original Conan stories released in audio with outstanding narration. The stories in this first collection are spellbinding in their scope and imagination. In hearing them again so many years later, I was struck by the realization that many lesser authors over the years have borrowed so much from Howard. Elements of his storytelling are everywhere today, but here is the unadorned original (and the very best of them all). This is not Hollywood's Conan - this is "raw" barbarism.

I hadn't read Robert E. Howard in twenty years, but am better for the reacquaintance. There are some wonderful, well-written stories in this volume. There are also some duds.

As explained in the introduction (which is very interesting and is a highlight of the production), these volumes are presenting the Conan stories in the order they were written, and not in chronological (from the characters' POV) order. This means that Conan may be a middle-aged king in one story, and a hungry young thief in the next. I enjoyed this aspect of the work.

I am a huge fan of the writings of Robert E. Howard and his Conan tales are among my favorites. This series presents the tales as they originally appeared over 70 years ago, not the "posthumous collaborations" published years after REH's unfortunate suicide that most readers are familiar with. Also, Todd McLaren provides yet another strong performance. As a narrator he is more than capable of providing voices to the motley assortment of characters who populated the world REH created.

If you only know of Conan from film and comics this is definitely the place to start reading ( or in this case hearing) the tales as they originally told. I"m looking forward to the rest of Howard's works being released as audiobooks.

If you like the Conan stories of Robert Howard then this is a must. If you are not you may find the stories a bit on the thin side. You have to keep in mind these were a series of short stories writen a long time ago, so you have to keep things in perspective. If you are a fan of Conan stories you will like this and it is very cool that the stories are in chronological order for the character and not the order they were written. That helps you see the development of Conan over the years. The narrarator was ok, but he was a bit bland for the work in my opinion. Still, if you like Conan get it.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian to be better than the print version?

No.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Conan . . . because Crom gifted him with all he needs.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I have read Conan books for countless hours, but never did I imagine him having an Irish or Scottish sounding accent. Some of the pronunciations drove me batty. If I heard demonic pronounced "de-moan'-ee-ak" one more time, I would have screamed. Not a huge fan of his female renditions either, but I realize that's a tough call. Good pacing, and good range of intensity, and I like his voice for the most part.

I would say this is the best compilation of Howard's Conan stories available. It's a classic, but much less boring than other classics of the time. Well worth the read/listen. I've both read and listened to the book, and enjoyed it both ways. Interior art is awesome as well.

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight. This is pulp fantasy written in the 1930’s for a pulp magazine audience and sold for money. This is not a work of high literature for which the author created an entire history, multiple cultures, and dozens of languages. Howard sketched out a quick back story and a rough map and then got down to writing. That he created a character that has lasted so long and become so popular is a credit to Howard’s writing and the ability to create such an archetypal character as Conan. But the roots of the stories are pulp fiction, and it shows sometimes.

These are also the original stories as written and published by Howard; not re-writes done after his death. And it’s interesting that they are presenting in order of publication. This lets you not only enjoy the stories, but get a glimpse of Howard’s development as a writer. As the forward notes, for a time Howard had to crank out Conan stories just to make ends meet. Where the early stories had almost no female characters, the later ones all have a “damsel in distress” theme featuring young women wearing nothing but wispy bands of silk. I guess even in the 30’s sex sold. But the earlier stories are pure sword and sorcery gold.

Overall, I really enjoyed these stories. Having seen the 1982 movie and read many of the re-writes and comic books I was a bit surprised at Howard’s version of Conan. He gets drunk, he takes revenge, he can be remarkably petty. But he can also be fiercely loyal, caring for his men, and as king he values the welfare of his people. These stories show all sides of the character.

I did have some problems with the reading, however. I grow up hearing the pronunciation “Cim AIR ee ah” while the reader constantly pronounces it “Cim er EE ah” A small point, but it did get to me at first. On the other hand he did a great job with the several voices in each story, and Conan consistently had a slight accent which I think went well with the character. The pacing was generally good, but I could have used just a bit longer pause between each story.